​*PLEASE NOTE: The polished version of my documentary is not yet ready. I have already notified my advisor, my capstone mentor and Mr. Lehmann (with approval) that I will be submitting some of the capstone after the due date. Please stay tuned for the rest of my capstone coming soon!

Abstract

My capstone has already been in motion since the start of my Freshman year at SLA. For my capstone, I decided to create a documentary about the Science Leadership Academy Class of 2016's four years of high school. Over the past four years of working on this long project, I've observed so much how the students evolved from freshman to seniors, which really stands out to me. I already have a film background, so the process of creating this project was not that different from other documentary projects I've worked on. I had to film as much as I can non-stop with my handheld camera for B-Roll, collect at least 50 interviews of the seniors, interview the senior advisors and Mr. Lehmann, and finally begin to edit the entire thing. I have changed how the final product for my capstone would look many times: Now, instead of having it as one feature-length documentary, it has been split up into multiple parts (or episodes). This is to organize the topics I covered, giving each topic their own video, and also so that the audience will be engaged the entire time.

This is an American History project at SLA during the class of 2016’s junior year. Students describe how a bank system works and the consequences of getting a loan, such as getting into debt. The execution of this project is in the form of a group of students telling ghost stories about debt. I chose this source because I think it is an interesting way to show what students can learn in a history class. The audience will see how creative students get with current history projects.

This is an 11th grade physics project in which students had to create a commercial advertising a new product using the laws of physics (a device that can charge any phone using kinetic energy). The use of comedy and a great understanding of the unit learned in physics class is mainly why I chose this source. Audience will see the creativity and, most importantly, the knowledge of what they have learned.

This is a short film made for an 11th grade english class. The assignment was to reenact a soliloquy from the Shakespeare’s “Hamlet.” I chose this source not just because I filmed the video, but also because it shows what pieces of literature SLA students are reading in high school and what they can do creativity-wise.

This is a project done in 9th grade by a group of students who wanted to send a message to the audience about the effects of drunk driving or driving without paying attention in general. The students take roles as fictional people who tell their own stories to the camera about their experiences with getting into car crashes or losing loved ones because of a wreckage. I used this source because I think it will be great to show how students are aware of the outside world, and are willing to share these problems within their school project.

This is a video of bloopers from the same english project (right above this source). I like this source because while it is important that I have plenty of project footage, I also want to have footage of students messing up while in the process of creating projects. They are still kids, after all, and I want to make sure that we are all still human, rather than just a group of braniacs.

This is a short film made for an 11th grade english class. The assignment was to reenact a soliloquy from the Shakespeare’s “Hamlet.” I chose this source because it shows what pieces of literature SLA students are reading in high school and what they can do creativity-wise.

This is an 11th grade project involving a combination of math knowledge and history knowledge. Students illustrate a timeline explaining the Gini Coefficient when it comes to inequality. I chose this because it is important to show that the subjects that SLA students take are not always by themselves; They can be used together at some times to create one big, knowledge-filled project.

This is an 11th grade physics project in which students had to create a commercial advertising a new product using the laws of physics (a device that can charge your phone using kinetic energy). The use of comedy and a great understanding of the unit learned in physics class is mainly why I chose this source. Audience will see the creativity and, most importantly, the knowledge of what they have learned.

This is an 11th grade Digital Video project in which students must create a commercial that could air during the Super bowl, with a specific budget relating to your time limit. This project focuses on being in debt with your cable bill, in a comedic way. I chose this site because while it does help advertise the product the students are trying to sell, it is mainly the comedy of the commercial that makes it memorable. This can show not only the students’ creativity, but their different types of humor.

This is a 10th grade Spanish 2 project. It shows students talking about different types of makeup while using their knowledge of spanish vocabulary and conjugating verbs in the past, present and future tense. I chose this source because it shows the student’s knowledge of a foreign language and how they can use it in modern times. It can also show how students can use their skills in a class in which they must speak entirely in Spanish.

This is a website talking about the 1968 film, “High School” by director Frederick Wiseman. It shows the director’s inspiration for the film and why he chose certain camera techniques. He did the trailer for the film in mostly close-ups, which is similar to how a mockumentary is shot. I used this sources for inspiration for my cinematography choices for the film. For the majority of my footage, I am using this source for mainly the editing style.